White cobra caught in Thousand Oaks arrives at San Diego Zoo

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Los Angeles County animal control officers carry the monocled cobra in a box to their truck Thursday afternoon. It was captured after being spotted crossing the street into the yard where it attacked a dog earlier this week. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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An L.A. County animal control officer catches the cobra in a Thousand Oaks backyard. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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Los Angeles County animal control officers carry the cobra in a box to their truck Thursday afternoon. It was captured after being spotted crossing the street into the yard where it attacked a dog earlier this week. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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Los Angeles County animal care and control officers search for a venomous cobra in Thousand Oaks on Thursday morning. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Los Angeles County animal care and control officers continue their search for a venomous cobra in Thousand Oaks on Thursday morning. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Los Angeles County animal care and control officers continue their search for a venomous cobra in Thousand Oaks on Thursday morning. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Residents talk to Department of Fish and Wildlife warden Dennis Rosenberg, second from right, as department officials and local animal control officers search the neighborhood around the 1300 block of Rancho Lane in Thousand Oaks for an at-large cobra. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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A Twitter photo of the cobra on the loose is displayed on a smartphone by a neighbor as officials with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and local animal control officers search the neighborhood around the 1300 block of Rancho Lane in Thousand Oaks on Wednesday. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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L.A. County Animal Control officer Manuel Gonzalez, left, and state Department of Fish and Wildlife warden Dennis Rosenberg hop a fence Wednesday after searching for a cobra where it was last seen in Thousand Oaks. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

By Tony Perry

Sept. 5, 2014 5:57 PM PT

The venomous white cobra captured in Thousand Oaks arrived Friday at the San Diego Zoo, where it will join the cobra exhibit after spending 90 days in quarantine.

The San Diego Zoo has the anti-venom serum that would be needed if the snake strikes anyone.

Housed in a specific reptile container, the snake was transported from Los Angeles on the 5 Freeway in one of the zoo’s animal transport vehicles, accompanied by the zoo’s curator of reptiles.

“At first he was not happy and did a lot of hissing,” said reptile curator Kim Lovich. “But then he settled down and it was just a nice family trip to San Diego on a Friday afternoon.”

The gender of the snake is still unknown although for convenience, zookeepers are using the male pronoun. The quarantine may include a physical exam, blood work and an internal inspection to determine the gender, Lovich said.

The snake’s diet will consist mostly of mice and rats.

“They really like to eat rats,” Lovich said. “But he’s been through a lot, so it may take some time for him to settle down and start eating.”

The zoo has eight other cobras, including at least one of the same species, Lovich said. The snake has some abrasions, possibly from slithering under fences and into woodpiles, she said.

“It’s very apparent that he was captive bred,” Lovich said.

At the San Diego Zoo, the snake will serve an educational purpose.

“We want him to tell his story: that it’s not good to keep venomous reptiles as pets,” Lovich said.

The four-foot-long cobra was found Thursday hiding beneath a stack of wood in the semi-rural Thousand Oaks yard where it was first spotted. It was initially taken to the Los Angeles Zoo, which lacks the appropriate anti-venom serum.

The monocled cobra, first believed to be albino, is actually leucistic, meaning it lacks all pigment. It has blue eyes instead of the red that characterize an albino.

Zookeepers examined the cobra and discovered it still had its poison glands.

The cobra, native to Southeast Asia, was not microchipped, so identifying its owner will be challenging, officials said. If the snake is male, it could grow to more than seven feet in length.

Authorities began searching for the cobra Wednesday after receiving a report that it had attacked a 7-year-old whippet named Teko on Labor Day.

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